Stepping In: My First #LVUFirstFriday

December’s edition of the Lehigh Valley Underground First Friday Concert Series featured some memorable firsts and some returning favorites.

First-timers That’s What She Said rocked a standing room only crowd at the Hill to Hill Grille, The Bridges Apart Duo turned in a very solid early performance at the Funhouse, Mitchell Kresge entertained us at EZ Money, while Houston the Punk Poet livened the festivities (and got our vote for outfit of the night) at the Touchstone Theater.

Meanwhile, not a seat was to be found at Molly’s Irish Grille and Sports Pub, as Brian Kibler was joined by Jordan White (and the famous Snow Camel) to put on a great show. Roi and the Secret People put on an amazing performance at Godfrey Daniels, The Lehigh Valley Gay Men’s Chorus brought the holiday spirit to The Banana Factory, the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts sent outstanding students to Domaci, Tom Graham kept things going at the SouthSide 313 and The Groove Merchants teamed up with Trouble City All Stars to keep the party going at the Funhouse into the wee hours.

As a first-timer myself (I took over coordinating duties this month), I have to say it was a very gratifying experience. The energy throughout the SouthSide was tremendous and, it felt great to see things come together the way they did. The music was great across the board, and it was encouraging to see the turnout everywhere I went. Of course, none of this is possible without everyone working together as a team, and that could not have been more evident during this transition. A lot of the credit has to go to Gerard Longo and Missy Hartney for guiding me through this during the past few months.

Going forward, I hope to keep the momentum going and to introduce many more “first-timers” to First Friday during the coming months. We still have room to grow and, with everyone’s continued support of independent music, we will.

Keep an eye out over the next few days for pictures from a great night on Bethlehem’s SouthSide, and we’ll see you all in January.